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Thursday Trends 4/25/19

In a climate where content marketers are awash in new technology, the market calls for more with an ever-increasing demand for video. Plus, learn how to connect with customers through episodic marketing and generate conversions using a sales funnel. All this and more in our most recent Thursday Trends.

Is Content Marketing Tech Sweeping Away Your Strategy?

Most businesses and their marketing teams know they have to participate in content marketing to gain any portion of the market in their industries. Content marketing, however, is much easier to talk about doing than it is to actually do. A variety of tools (publishing, idea-generating, scheduling, optimizing, etc.) have been created to help marketers with content management across platforms. If you have ever felt overwhelmed while either researching or using one or many of these content management tools, you’re not alone.

Content Marketing Institute released their 2019 Content Management and Strategy Survey, which took a close look at how businesses manage to create, oversee, deliver, and scale their content marketing strategies, using an endless stream of technologies with countless applications available. In summary, the study showed that while marketers are taking a more direct, strategic approach to content, they appear to be “awash” in the new options. Take a closer look at Content Marketing Institute’s findings to see how your strategy compares to other content marketers’ and create an action plan to improve your processes.

A Successful Recipe for Conversions Starts with TOFU, Ends with BOFU

You publish consistently across multiple platforms, you know your customer base, and you generate good traction. In spite of your hard work, your customers don’t bite, and you fail to generate sales conversions through your content marketing and digital media channels. What gives?

According to this article from Business 2 Community, you’re probably ignoring the sales funnel. Truly effective content marketing specifically targets customers at three different levels: top of the funnel (TOFU), middle of the funnel (MOFU), and the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). According to the article, tailoring your content marketing and messaging to the varied needs and curiosities of these different levels of the sales funnel should entice your audience enough to bite. Check out the full article for an in-depth look at the content which customers in each level of the sales funnel crave.

Videos Keep Content Short, Sweet, and Highly Informative

The dawn of TiVo and DVR gave sofa surfers and couch potatoes worldwide the ability to pass the popcorn and skip the commercials. Online, however, consumers seem to prefer short-form videos, like those we all delightfully fast-forwarded through, to other forms of content.

In their article, WriterAccess, takes a close look at why audiences are falling back in love with short-form videos and how you can (and should!) use it to promote your business. Defined as videos shorter than 90 to 120 seconds, short-form videos allow you to communicate lots of information in a short amount of time with minimal effort required of your audience. Read the full article for more information on how to script and publish short video.

Stealthy Content: Disguise Long-Form Content as Short-Form Videos

Storytelling is essential to effective, captivating marketing. So, why not tell your stories the way so many of our favorites are revealed: in episodes. Not only does episodic content marketing keep your audience coming back for more, it also allows you to deliver long-form video content (sneakily broken into chapters) that your audience will actually enjoy.

This recent article from Forbes explains how the need to create distinguished video content is becoming increasingly important, as video content becomes increasingly common. The article discusses how episodic content creates anticipation, buzz, and excitement around your brand, while also allowing viewers to make repeated connections with your business. Take a look at the complete article for more tips and tricks about creating and publishing successful episodic content marketing videos.

Jennifer G is a full-time freelance writer and editor with a B.A. in creative writing from the University of Montana. She enjoys researching and writing creative content to engage readers and developing professional voices for clients across all industries. She specializes in medical, health, veterinary, and financial writing. Having worked nearly thirteen years in finance, Jennifer applies her experience in the banking industry (marketing, social media management, consumer and commercial lending, customer service, accounts, and bookkeeping) to her writing work within the industry.

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